Thinking over this psychoacoustic-babble (seems like nonsense to me), and reading another new thread on subwoofers reminded me of an old technique, quite popular at the time (mid 1960's) of generating good base from a bunch of small speakers. The design, called the "Sweet 16" used 16 5" cheap speakers arranged 4x4 in a fairly large cabinet. For mid and high frequencies, they behave like 5" speakers, but the total cone area is what matters, and the speakers work together, for bass, and is the equivalent of a 20" speaker.

So if the JBL system just routed all low frequencies to all the speakers simultaneously then good bass would be obtained. Since the ears can't sense the direction of low-pitched tones, stereo separation isn't necessary for low frequencies, and nothing is lost.

Tideland Prius — Yes, I believe that none of the 2007/8 Camry's does any of these psychoacoustic things!

talmy — You're quite right. And that's precisely what the JBL system does in fact do at low frequencies — it drives all four woofers in parallel to make a "virtual" subwoofer. It has less power handling than a true subwoofer, but much more than a "normal" car system would have.

Stan

I can tell it's working at max volume, I see the rear view mirror bounce. ;-)

Yeah, get some songs on there and it does kind of vibrate and throb with the beat, I have to admit, hehe.

lol.. then why advertise it? (It was on the microsite at toyota.com).

Mods: EV mod, VVT-i emblem, sport pedals, OEM cargo mat, JDM Prius interior footwell lighting, Sylvania Silverstars 9003ST, DICE iPod kit, OEM all-weather mats, TomTom ONE v2, LED licence plate lights.